Jack Butland: I didn’t even want to talk to Manchester City or Chelsea

Jack Butland has revealed he rejected the chance to speak to Manchester City and Chelsea as he didn’t want to waste his career away on the substitutes’ bench.

The 20-year-old Birmingham goalkeeper will join Stoke at the end of the season, but Butland says he spurned the advances of both Premier League giants as he feared he would never be given the chance to compete for a first-team place.

‘I had the chance to speak to Chelsea but I didn’t feel like I needed to,’ Butland told The Times.

‘It’s a fantastic club and it would be a great honour to play for them at some stage. But I’ve got a chance to join a club where I feel I can better develop my game and take it to the next level, which I didn’t feel at some of the other clubs I rejected.

‘I turned Manchester City down about a year ago. Again I was flattered but Joe Hart is their undisputed No 1 and he was a main factor.’